We all know that ants are attracted to food. If you leave small crumbs on your dining table or kitchen countertop, ants will find them… But have you every wondered why you sometimes see ants in your room even if there is no food around?
1. There is actually food in the room
The simplest reason why you have ants in a room with no food is that, well, you actually have food in the room and you just didn’t know. Remember that ants are small animals. The average ant is only about one millionth the size of a human. This means that even the smallest food sources are enough to attract them, simply because these tiny food items are enough to sustain them.
You clean your dining area and kitchen to avoid these industrious insects looking for resources. But when it comes to your bedroom and other parts of your home where you don’t typically eat, cleaning isn’t as obvious. You often leave small crumbs around, and these eventually attract ants.
2. Ants can eat stuff you don’t consider “food”
Food is subjective. There are things out there that you don’t consider food but totally are for other animals. Flies, for example, are attracted to your dog’s poop that you have left in your yard. Ants are the same. These insects have a more diverse diet than most people realize.
They eat sugar sources like honeydew and nectar, so if you have plants in your room, you are sure to attract these crawlers. They also eat protein sources like insects, so if you have insects hiding in your room, ants may go there to hunt them down. Ants are also attracted to pet food, so when getting rid of food sources that may attract ants, don’t forget about your cat and dog’s treats.
3. Ants are in your room looking for water
Like other animals, ants need both food and water to survive. If you don’t have food in your room but you still see ants around, it may mean that you have water in there somewhere. And again, ants are small animals, so even the smallest droplets of water are enough to attract them.
It’s even worse if the room in question is naturally moist, such as your bathroom. It’s fairly common to see ant trails in bathrooms because of moisture and random pools of water, such as those in your bathtub, shower area, and that small space behind your toilet.
4. They are looking for shelter
The basic needs of animals are not just food and water. They also need shelter to protect themselves from predators and the weather. If you see ants around even if there is no food and water in the room, they are probably looking for a place to build a nest or stay temporarily to escape from something dangerous in where they have originally come from, such as a sudden and harsh weather condition.
Different ant species have different habits and nesting spots. For example, if the room in question has a lot of wooden parts, it may be more vulnerable to carpenter ants, who like to stay in moist or rotting wood. But if the room is a garage or some other room near your driveway, it may be more vulnerable to pavement ants, who like to stay in concrete slabs.
5. They are escaping from harsh weather conditions
The temporary and permanent weather conditions in your area can make ants infiltrate your home. Again, they are just looking for shelter, and your home happens to be nearby or has the perfect features for them to escape these weather conditions.
An example of a temporary weather condition is rain. If it rains hard and floods outside, ants will go out of their nest and seek shelter elsewhere because they don’t want to drown and die. You will often see this habit on pavement ants, especially because they often live in driveways and sidewalks, which are often flooded during heavy rain.
An example of a permanent weather condition is dryness. If ants can’t find a lot of water sources outside, they can march to your home and start a nest there, especially if you leave moisture and water droplets around.
6. They are escaping from your neighbor’s pest control
Do you notice a sudden influx of ants on your property? These ants may have come from your neighbor. Your neighbor may have been suffering from an ant infestation and have hired pest control services. Ants will try to get away from the danger, and your property is the first lead they get.
You don’t have to have food or water around for them to be there. For the ants, just the idea of safety is enough reason to infiltrate your home. If you are not proactive, they may even nest on your property, essentially transferring the ant problem from your neighbor to you.
7. They are following other ants
Do you notice that ants always seem to show up in trails? You don’t see lone ants. You always see them in groups in a line. This is just part of the process of how ants look for food and water. Scouts will go around the vicinity and look for resources. And when they finally find them, they leave pheromones behind. Other ants use these pheromones to find the resources the scouts have just found.
There are ants in your room even if there is no food and water there because the insects are passing by and marching toward the resources their scouts have just found. They use their sense of smell to detect pheromones. Many homeowners use strong odors like vinegar to mask pheromones and get rid of ant trails.
8. Your walls have cracks and holes
Common ants are usually about 3 to 5 millimeters small. They are also industrious foragers. They will go around their vicinity to look for resources. This is an annoying combination. Their small size and industriousness may mean that you may see them just practically everywhere. You are not giving yourself any favors too if your walls have cracks and holes.
Cracks and holes give ants an easier time looking for resources. They can go in and out of your property as they please. This is especially true if the wall cracks and holes are directly linked to the outside world, like to your garden or yard where the ant nest may be thriving.